Super Robot Spirits - All N64 Games

[darksnowman]

15 minutes ago, EEVILMURRAY said:

Pokémon Stadium off the top of my head, I'mma gonna check my collection when I get home... I'm sure I have more!

Are we talking about all the way around black border, or where they have just one bar on the right? 

 

4 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Banjo-Tooie didn't have borders either.

Good shouts. All games I skipped so likely right enough. Well, I later got Snap unboxed but you know what I mean.

[Helmsly]

3 hours ago, darksnowman said:

Lylat Wars was, as far as I remember, the first Nintendo game we got that was fullscreen. I think until that point only Rare was putting out N64 games that were properly optimised for PAL tellies.

I believe that is correct. My Nintendo 64 was imported from America, so I had the US version of Star Fox 64, but i remember reading the reviews for it the PAL/ Lylat Wars release and being surprised that they had gone to the extra effort to make it run better. They also added an extra unlockable that wasn't the other versions where you can make the characters sound how they did back in the snes game:

 

Edited January 26 by Helmsly

[EEVILMURRAY]

I'm surprised that Fox sounds deeper than Falco

 

 

[darksnowman]

14 minutes ago, Helmsly said:

I believe that is correct. My Nintendo 64 was imported from America, so I had the US version of Star Fox 64, but i remember reading the reviews for it the PAL/ Lylat Wars release and being surprised that they had gone to the extra effort to make it run better. They also added an extra unlockable that wasn't the other versions where you can make the characters sound how they did back in the snes game:

Haha, yes. I played through it a few times with the Lylat voices but with the full-voicing of the game in English being so novel (and so well done), I had to revert to it.

5 minutes ago, EEVILMURRAY said:

I'm surprised that Fox sounds deeper than Falco

Always heard their garbled speech in weird ways since the first time I played Starwing. Like, "refurnish!" for scramble and "d'you read me, jab?" for Falco's voice clip.  

[Glen-i]

Someone at Nintendo really liked the "Lylat language" thing. Because they did it again for Star Fox Command. There was a neat feature where you could speak into the DS microphone and the game would garble your voice up to make it "Lylat" and then apply it to characters.

They also did the "Lylat" thing in a trailer for Starlink, that game that had Fox as a cameo. He answers a distress call from a character from Starlink in Lylat in a trailer.

BTW, @Cube. You were wondering why they bothered re-recording for the 3DS version? It's very likely to be because that game actually has other voices for different languages, such as German. So I imagine they just wanted all the languages to get the same treatment. They did get most of the original voices back for the English dub though.

Edited January 26 by Glen-i

[Dcubed]

The thing about the voice samples being so low quality in the original is that you don’t really notice it because it’s meant to be low quality radio chatter; so it makes sense that the radio signal would sound ropey anyway.

Very clever

Edited January 27 by Dcubed

[Cube]

War Gods
 

• NA release: 20th May 1997
• PAL release: 28th November 1997
• JP release: N/A
• Developer: Eurocom
• Publisher: Midway (US) / GT Interactive (PAL)
• N64 Magazine Score: 46%

Mortal Kombat in 3D was the big advertising for War Gods, with lots and lots of emphasis on the 3D. War Gods does not feel like a 3D game at all, though, with “3D” movement being relegated to holding a button and just being nothing more than a basic dodge.

In terms of fighting, War Gods is the kind of game that I can do alright at. This is probably a bad sign for the game, as I’m dreadful at combinations and I’m what people call a “button masher”. I found a few cheap tricks that seemed to work to get through the game. Each character seems to have an annoying “trap” move.

Characters make or break a game like this and War Gods has such an immensely dull cast. For the most part, they’re loosely based on ransom cultural gods or stereotypes and have none of their own personality, with a robot and a few scantily clad women thrown in. None of the characters were someone I actually wanted to play as.

War Gods is also incredibly light on modes. You start, pick a character then fight through all the other characters. Player 2 can take over these characters and that’s it. There’s no training or practice – there’s not even a versus mode where player 2 can choose their character. It’s an extremely bare bones arcade port of an extremely boring game.

Quote

There’s no consideration of tactical thought, no beauty or style, nothing to involve you with the supposedly visceral action, nothing we haven’t seen a hundred times before. And those characters. Gods? Peter Duncan’s pantomime pals, surely.

- Jes Bickham, N64 Magazine #7

Remake or Remaster?

Perhaps throw it in as a bonus in a Mortal Kombat collection?

Official ways to get the game.

There is no official way to get War Gods.

[darksnowman]

Makes me remember I always wanted to play Dual Heroes.

And Aero Gauge.

[Dcubed]

War Gods might be a bit crap as a competitive fighter, but I do really like its presentation.  The announcer voice is great, and the game oozes that OTT mid-90s Midway arcade style.  It's cheesy in a good way, and it certainly entertains; even if it's all a bit skin deep.

Midway presents... WAR GODS!!

Ultimately a good port of a fairly middling arcade fighter.  Not Midway's best game in the arcades to begin with, but it's part of a string of quality Midway arcade ports to hit the platform over its lifetime; and it's at least worth watching on Youtube for its carnie-esc personality.

Edited January 28 by Dcubed

[Cube]

International Superstar Soccer 64

• PAL release: 1st June 1997
• NA release: 22nd August 1997
• JP release: 18th September 1997
• Developer: Konami
• Publisher: Konami
• N64 Magazine Score: 92%

The international version of J.League Perfect Striker was a brand that has changed over time International Superstar Soccer later became Pro Evolution Soccer and its reputation has decreased over time. For the N64, though, ISS64 was lightyears ahead of FIFA 64. While the latter is clunky and broken, ISS64 is a joy to play.

The biggest let-down with ISS64 is the teams. In this, you only have access to International squads, all with slightly odd names due to not having licensing (although FIFA 64 never told you who you were controlling anyway). You can still play matches, leagues and tournaments, along with a practice mode and 16 scenarios to play though, so there’s still a lot more to do.

But it all comes down to the gameplay, and that’s where ISS64 shines. Passing feels spot on, especially the running pass where you kick the ball ahead of the next player, so they’re running forward to catch it. Basic moves are on the main buttons while more advanced ones are on the c-buttons, so everything works really well. The key thing about it is how it’s very tactics-based, you need to plan your lines of attack up the pitch, rather than trying to just run down the middle.

While FIFA 64 has the appeal of playing as league teams, ISS 64 is just a much, much nicer game to play.

Quote

 

Plainly, developers Major A know their football, which is possibly why the game comes across so well. Programmed by football followers for football followers.

- Tim Weaver, N64 Magazine #3

 

Remake or Remaster?

Konami definitely need to look back at this before proceeding with the mess that is “eFootball”.

Official ways to get the game.

There is no official way to get ISS64

[Dcubed]

A legend within the genre.  It's truly remarkable just how much Konami got it right on their first try.  And really? This game was simply never bettered, even arguably by its own sequels.  It's the perfect blend of realistic simulation and un-realistic arcade style footy fun.   It's fast & snappy and its control mechanics both instantly accessible and surprisingly in-depth; with plenty of options available for both tactical gameplay (such as through-passing) and player expression (such as the functionally pointless keepy-upy moves).  Anyone can pick up the controller and immediately understand how to play; the controls expertly mapped to the N64's buttons in a shockingly intuitive fashion (c-up? Through ball, makes perfect sense).  Joe Casual could even get by just understanding that A passes and B shoots; with the more complex controls being mapped to the c-buttons for more seasoned players.

The AI is also tuned so well.  Each team feels distinct and like their real world counterparts (French players feigning fouls? Yup, that's here! Brazil being showoffs that taunt you with keepy upppies? Yup, here too).  You can really tell that the developers understood and LOVED the sport.

And though the game lacks any sort of licensing? It perfectly captures the spirit of football.  From the general presentation & atmosphere, to the gameplay movement mechanics, to the super upbeat and catchy music, it just puts you in the mood for a kickabout...

Admit it, you wanna play it right now

 

And of course, we have to mention the commentator.  Utterly ludicrous, massively entertaining and truly legendary.  The ISS64 commentator is so well loved within retro gaming circles that he had his own Twitter account! And even till this day, people are still making videos where the ISS 64 commentator is dubbed over classic football matches (this one here is just brilliant ).

It really can't be overstated just how ahead of its time this game was.  When this game launched in 1997, it completely blew away every other football game.  It was basically a full generational leap over the competition in terms of presentation, and played like an absolute dream by comparison.  Even putting aside the disastrous Fifa 64 for a moment (a game so bad that you could literally win by letting the goalie hold onto the ball until the match timer ran out), its contemporary competition looked and felt positively ropey by comparison...

Not (FIFA Road To World Cup 98 - PS1)

Even (Sega Worldwide Soccer 97 - Saturn)

Close (ISS Pro - PS1)

It's also worth noting that the ISS games on the PS1 were made by a completely different team at KCE Tokyo (while the N64 games were made by Major A productions at KCE Osaka).  The difference in quality between the ISS games for N64 and PS1 is staggering, and when people talk about how great ISS once was? They're specifically referring to the Major A games for the N64 here.  The 3rd N64 game (ISS 2000) would end up being the last of its kind however, as the N64 series would end up morphing into what became known as Pro Evolution Soccer as we moved into the following generation; but while the Pro Evo games became well loved in their own right? They would end up going further down the simulation route and away from that blend of sim & arcade that defined the N64 titles.  This means that the three N64 ISS titles (64, 98 and 2000) stand as still being unique and well loved within the sports genre as a whole.

If there is any real flaw to hold against ISS 64 however? It comes down to that classic Konami cheapness we've come to expect from them as a publisher.  Now, I'm not referring to the lack of licenses here (that actually gives the game a rather unique, kitschy charm), but rather the lack of on-cartridge saving.  This is 1997, and Konami had the gall to require the player to purchase and use an N64 Memory Pak to save your game at all; these things are notoriously flaky and prone to failure, which unfortunately makes playing the longer seasons an exercise in frustration that really isn't the fault of the game itself.  Like... come on.  Konami were already being cheap by using a 64mbit/8MB N64 cart with this one (which was the cheapest cartridge size available around the console's launch), but to not even include on-cart flash for game saves is insulting.  Just like with Castlevania Dracula X, Konami went for the cheapest and nastiest cartridge that they could get away with, and the game suffers for it.

But luckily, football games like this don't really have a lot of unique art assets (it's essentially just a couple of stadium models, one set of repeated textures and a handful of character models with some pallette swaps); so the actual game itself doesn't really suffer for the small cartridge size.  If anything, the majority of the cartridge space likely went to the audio presentation (cartridge space well spent); so thankfully it's not a repeat of what happened with Castlevania Dracula X here.

Finally, I'd like to give a special shoutout to the Scenario Mode; which pits the player against a set of specific challenges that are meant to represent famous historical footy matches.  They're pretty simple affairs, like being forced to play England when they're down 2-4 against Germany in the last 30 mins and you're tasked to somehow claw back victory following a free kick; but they add a nice single player diversion away from the main league mode and multiplayer.  ISS 98 would go on to expand on this idea with its larger Scenario mode and its excellent Training mode; both of which are amongst the best things about that game, but more on that when @Cube eventually gets round to ISS 98 in a few months or so.  Still, it's things like this that make ISS 64 stand out within the football and even sports genres as a whole.

ISS 64 isn't just a game that was well ahead of its time, it's also a game that has stood the test of time.  It's still one of the best footy games ever made, and while it's far from the most realistic take on the sport, few other football games have ever managed to capture the real magic of the beautiful game like ISS 64 did.  It's Miyamoto approved for a damn good reason, what a howler of a game!

Edited January 29 by Dcubed

[Cube]

That's a wonderful write-up @Dcubed. You certainly know these football games a lot more than I do. I already feel like your post about ISS 98 will absolutely dwarf what I have to say about it.

You're also probably going to hate what I have to say about FIFA Road to World Cup 98 (I think it's down to the more arcade-like nature of that game for me, before FIFA went on to try and move closer to ISS, but not being as good at it).

It seems like some of these sports games haven't so much as evolved, but rather changed completely over time. I do think it would be neat to see some games like this to get a "remaster" of sorts, an updated version running on modern hardware. We got NHL '94 Rewind in 2020 and then that was it. 

[Hero-of-Time]

11 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

A legend within the genre.  It's truly remarkable just how much Konami got it right on their first try.  And really? This game was simply never bettered, even arguably by its own sequels. 

Wait, do you even play footy games? Of course this was bettered. The early Pro Evolution games on the PS2 were something very, very special. When Pro Evo dropped off and FIFA finally found it's footing, even those were better than this. Do they play differently? Absolutely but the games I mentioned were far better footy games.

[darksnowman]

3 hours ago, Cube said:

ISS64 is a joy to play.

It really was/ is. Lofting and holding onto one-twos, having the receiving player make a run before releasing a through ball*, Z trigger + direction to apply curl, step overs and more. So much depth, a dream to play. The scenarios were a great inclusion, too.

No mention of Tony Gubba's commentary? Big head mode made for a good laugh and all... to alleviate the tears when your controller pak data corrupted. 

Gameplay > licenses. 

Thanks to the smooth motion capture it looked realistic enough if you squinted slightly at the TV unlike Fifa 64 and/or 99 about which NMS said it looks like the players are running to the bog. 

* I'm possibly listing refinements to one-twos and through balls from ISS 98, not sure any more.

22 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

Each team feels distinct and like their real world counterparts (French players feigning fowls?

Coq sportif.

[Dcubed]

8 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Wait, do you even play footy games? Of course this was bettered. The early Pro Evolution games on the PS2 were something very, very special. When Pro Evo dropped off and FIFA finally found it's footing, even those were better than this. Do they play differently? Absolutely but the games I mentioned were far better footy games.

Pro Evo is a very different kind of footy game though, erring much more to the side of realism than the ISS games before it.  The Pro Evo games on PS2 were indeed great, and far better than FIFA, but they weren't really the same kind of game.

As far as its particular breed of arcade style of footy goes? No, I don't think the ISS games were ever really topped.  You had a few good attempts, like Red Card on the PS2/Gamecube, but this kind of game really died out as the PS2 came into being.

Edited January 29 by Dcubed

[Hero-of-Time]

6 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

Pro Evo is a very different kind of footy game though, erring much more to the side of realism than the ISS games before it.  The Pro Evo games on PS2 were indeed great, and far better than FIFA, but they weren't really the same kind of game.

As far as its particular breed of arcade style of footy goes? No, I don't think the ISS games were ever really topped.  You had a few good attempts, like Red Card on the PS2/Gamecube, but this kind of game really died out as the PS2 came into being.

Gonna have to agree to disagree on this one. 

Also, Red Card was arcadey but pretty different as well. If you are comparing that to ISS then you may as well throw in Mario Strikers and the always superior Sega Soccer Slam.

[Dcubed]

33 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Gonna have to agree to disagree on this one. 

Also, Red Card was arcadey but pretty different as well. If you are comparing that to ISS then you may as well throw in Mario Strikers and the always superior Sega Soccer Slam.

Yeah, those games do err more extreme; but I like the balance that ISS has between arcade & realism.

Mario Strikers Charged Football is the best as far as full-on cartoony football goes though

I'm just not a fan of full-on simulation football, it's just all a bit dull to me.  But sometimes you don't want full-on looney tunes, which is where ISS strikes that perfect balance for me.

Edit: I guess a closer match to ISS would be Virtua Striker 2 & 3 for the Dreamcast and GCN respectively… but those games lack the elegance and control fluidity of the N64 ISS games.

Edited January 29 by Dcubed

[Cube]

SimCopter 64 (Prototype)

• PAL release: N/A
• NA release: N/A
• JP release: N/A
• Developer: Maxis
• Publisher: EA
• N64 Magazine Score: N/A

In my previous looks at franchises, I noted all cancelled games. Due to the amount of N64 games, I will be just looking at playable prototypes, the first of which is SimCopter 64, which was playable at E3 1997. It was planned to work as a standalone title, but would be compatible in some way with SimCity 2000, SimCity 64 and Mario Artist (all ended up being Japan-only games), although none of that was ever integrated.

In this prototype, you fly around as you please and can help sort out emergencies such as traffic jams and speeding cars (the full game would have had more, like the PC version). These are solved by hovering your spotlight on the cars and pressing a “shout” button. You get money for completing these tasks (there’s a sound effect but no HUD display).

You can also get out of the helicopter and walk around. In both flight and on the ground, none of the buildings have collision, so you go straight through them. The city looks nice, but draw distance is very low. It’s very likely that this was adapted into the free roam aspect of SimCity 64, which was from a first person view.

Footage from a later build has been see, but this is just a few seconds of footage and the build itself hasn’t been shared. This version has some text explaining what to do, a HUD showing health and money and has collisions.

SimCopter 64 is an impressive early demo of a 3D city on the N64, but I don’t think it would have performed well on the platform.

Quote

The PC version of the game received mixed reviews in its appearance earlier this year, but the Japanese developers promise the 64-bit version will be veritably rejigged with 30 new pre-built cities.

- N64 Magazine #5

Should it be finished?

SimCopter was released on PC with better integration and better graphics, and other elements were likely reused in the 64DD SimCity, so there’s no reason to see the finished version of this. That said, I would be much more interested in SimCity if minigames like this were part of the package.

 

[darksnowman]

It's all coming rushing back. Would have been there for SimCopter if it came out. Love SimCity and my imagination was alive with all the possibilities of making a city and flying around it. The prospect of stuff like this on the 64DD was something else.

Fun fact: to this day whenever I read "sim racing" I always pause to find out if it's about a SimCity racing game.

[Cube]

Hexen

• NA release: 25th June 1997
• PAL release: 1st December 1997
• JP release: 19th December 1997
• Developer: Raven Software, Software Creations
• Publisher: GT Interactive
• N64 Magazine Score: 69%

The N64 version of Hexen was very similar to the PC version, just with slightly different textures, so to play this I used a fan made updated PC version that, when testing out both for a bit, faithfully ports the game with the same feel, but with nicer textures (although I think I went a bit too far in choosing a version with textures as different as this). The blockiness is still there so it doesn’t impact the level design in any way, and I like giving games the best chance to impress me.

Hexen is a sequel to Raven Soft’s previous game Heretic (although there’s also a Hertic 2 and Hexen 2 for added name confusion – no wonder they later worked on the Jedi Knight games). It takes the DOOM engine and stretches it to its max to create a more RPG-like fantasy first person melee/shooter game. You can look up and down and jump, so small walls are no longer an impassable obstacle. As a result, it feels much more suited to the N64 than DOOM did, although this is just the PC game with no new levels (there was an added deathmatch option, though).

The biggest difference between DOOM and Hexic is the level design. The levels in Hexic are mini worlds, each having their own hub area which you’ll keep coming back to after exploring the various parts of the level. For the most part, beating a level involves hitting lots of hidden switches, but navigating around is a puzzle in itself. Unfortunately, most of this is just wandering around looking for keys and switches, then looking back to try and find what the switches do. The levels are very maze-like and you’ll end up going round in circles and backtracking a lot.

At the start of the game, you can choose a character class: Fighter, Cleric or Mage. They have different strengths and weaknesses, but the biggest thing is the weapons, as each has four unique weapons. This would work if there were also some shared weapons as well, but no – in each playthrough, you’ll only encounter four weapons. For the fighter, that includes his fists. It means that in a single play of the game, there isn’t much variety in shooting the hoards of enemies.

Hexen has a lot of interesting features, but it’s massively let down by an overreliance on having to look everywhere for buttons to press, along with limited weapon choice in each playthrough.

Quote

Hexen’s a solid enough game. If you can forgive its ill-conceived level design which could have you trudging around a vast, empty level for anything up to three weeks trying to work out what that last switch you pulled actually did, it will provide plenty of monster-clobbering and dungeon-exploring value for your money.

- Jonathan Davies, N64 Magazine #5

Remake or Remaster?

An official remaster similar to the version I played would be great. Perhaps throw in some hints or something, though.

Official ways to get the game

The PC version is available on GOG, the graphical mod is from ModDB.

 

[Jonnas]

16 hours ago, Cube said:

Hexen

Oh shit! I remember playing Heretic on the PC when I was younger! Those screenshots look so similar to that.

16 hours ago, Cube said:

The levels are very maze-like and you’ll end up going round in circles and backtracking a lot.

This too feels similar to my memories!

[Dcubed]

2 hours ago, Jonnas said:

Oh shit! I remember playing Heretic on the PC when I was younger! Those screenshots look so similar to that.

That's because Hexen is the direct sequel to Heretic.  I'd be surprised if it didn't look so similar 

I should play this at some point.  Never have, but I do like a good Doom clone

Edited February 1 by Dcubed

[Cube]

Mischief Makers

• JP release: 27th June 1997
• NA release: 1st October 1997
• PAL release: 12th December 1997
• Developer: Treasure
• Publisher: Enix (JP) / Nintendo (NA/PAL)
• N64 Magazine Score: 90%

Mischief Makers is a 2D platformer from respected developers Treasure. It received glowing reviews for its originality, including a 90% from N64 magazine. Unfortunately, the game didn’t click with me, but I can definitely see why people would love it.

Mischief Makers is made up of lots of short platforming levels, each one focusing one a single gimmick. What’s impressive is that these levels are extremely varied and feel unique. The main move that levels are based on are Marina’s ability to grab and shake objects – mainly NPCs, enemies and balls. These will cause various actions that you need to figure out how to use to progress. There’s also a secret gem hidden in each level that’s very difficult to find, unlocking the final cutscene if you get them all.

The biggest issue I had with the game was the controls. Most of Marina’s movement abilities are performed by double tapping the D-pad. At first, I praised the game because the c-buttons were used as shortcuts to these abilities, providing a great extra way to perform these abilities, but then discovered that the c-button versions are less effective than tapping the d-pad, which is probably why I struggled with some basic jumps.

I would love to see an updated re-release of Mischief Makers, making the c-buttons function the same as double-tapping the d-pad, plus higher details sprites. The game definitely deserves a new version.

Quote

But the banality of this sagacity, when juxtaposed with the outright bonkersness of the game in general, serves only to heighten the lighthearted surrealism that abounds, which, in out book, is a Very Good Thing

- Jes Bickham, N64 Magazine #8

Remake or Remaster?

A remake would be great. The game still feels unique and a new version would be lovely.

Official ways to get the game.

There is no official way to get Mischief Makers.

[Dcubed]

This one’s still on my bucket list.  Ridiculous that it has still never been re-released (I know that S-E generally don’t give a shit about Enix’s legacy catalogue in general, but come on!).

Put this on Switch NSO already you bastards!

Edited February 1 by Dcubed

[Hero-of-Time]

55 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

This one’s still on my bucket list.  

I'm very surprised you've never played it.